a dream of love
by dragonFELL
Summary: In which a mute apprentice falls in love with an invisible she-cat who exists only in his dreams.
1. voice

_Disclaimer: I do not own the _Warriors_ series; _

**1: voice**

He knows he is dreaming, because he has a voice.

"Aren't you sad?"

He turns around but cannot find the intruder. He can't see or smell anyone, but he can _feel_ the invisible speaker. He asks why he should be sad.

"You're the only one who can hear your voice. No one else can."

He tells her why his condition doesn't matter to him. It used to bother him that he couldn't speak to his Clanmates. It was even worse to dream of having a voice, only to have no audience to hear. But there's nothing he can do about it; he was born this way, and he's okay with that. It doesn't bother him anymore.

"I can admire that, I think. It must be hard to live without a voice."

It's not so bad, he explains. He's gotten used to it—and his Clanmates have learned how to deal with him, as well.

"I see. That's good."

She doesn't say more, but she's gotten him talking; he doesn't want to stop. He asks for her name.

"My name? It was—it's Lilypaw. What about you?"

His name is Ashpaw; he's been an apprentice for three moons now. He thinks it'll take him a bit longer to earn his warrior name because he can't speak, but he's one of the best apprentices of NightClan and his mentor Fawnstep has been dropping hints; the warrior ceremony should be any day now.

He then asks her about her. He's gone to Gatherings but he's never heard of a Lilypaw.

"Oh," she says halfheartedly, "I'm a new apprentice. I haven't been chosen to go to a Gathering yet."

Which he finds odd, since most Clans take newly-named apprentices on their first Gathering as soon as possible. But he doesn't mention it. Instead he asks whether he'll find her here again. It gets lonely in his dreams; if it's not too much trouble could she meet him here next time?

"Maybe. If I can. I'll try, though."

He thanks her.

Ashpaw wakes up strangely content. As he patrols the borders of NightClan territory with his mentor, he can't help but look forward for nightfall, so he can speak again to someone who can hear.

* * *

_A/N: Haven't written for a while. An experiment of sorts, with the chapter length, writing style, and genre. I'm usually typing out overly wordy chapters, I haven't written like this before, and I definitely don't write romance regularly—but hey, can't hurt to try! Thanks for reading._


	2. warning

_AN: Thank you very much for the reviews! Yeah, the writing style's one I'm still trying to work with (I feel like it gets tedious after a bit, particularly with Ashpaw lacking real dialogue). I'll probably keep future chapters at around this length, though; brevity is something I'm also experimenting with - no more several thousand word long chapters from me. :D_

**2: warning**

Almost as soon as Ashpaw closes his eyes, he senses Lilypaw's presence. He greets her—which is awkward, since he can't see her—but he knows she's there. He's had an entire day of planning what to say. He starts by asking her how her day has been.

"The usual apprentice things," she answers. "I was wondering about you, actually. You said you've gotten used to living without a voice—but how does that work out in life? You can't report to your leader, you can't warn your Clanmates of danger—so how?"

It's been hard, he admits. One time a snake had slithered silently into camp; he had been at the elders' den clearing the nests, but he hadn't been able to warn old Patchfur of the threat. A life had been lost that day, one that could have been saved with a voice.

But, he adds with optimism, he _does_ have a way to speak with others. Whipping his tail means _danger_. A flick of the tail from left to right means _thank you_. A flick in the opposite direction, from right to left, means _help_. It isn't much, Ashpaw admits, but it's better than nothing.

"That's clever! Did you think of it?"

No; his mentor Fawnstep had been the one who introduced it to him. It was tough on her to have such a strange apprentice, but Ashpaw thinks that she's grown to work around it, and he admires her for that.

"The warriors in my Clan aren't like that," Lilypaw says quietly. "They would have…"

What would they have done?

"They would pity you, I guess. But not much else."

Oh. He supposes he's lucky to have been born in NightClan, then. He considers asking Lilypaw which Clan she's from—but since she hasn't done so already, it's clear that Lilypaw doesn't intend on referring to her Clan by name.

She has something to hide, but Ashpaw isn't one to question the only one who can hear him. So maybe he'd find answers a different way.

He asks her if she'll be at the upcoming Gathering.

"You're going?"

Ashpaw swears he can see her right then—the faintest shimmer of an outline resembling a cat, shorter and skinnier than he.

Yes, he was going—but why? What's wrong?

She is silent for a long, long time. Before long, Ashpaw can feel the time of his dream world slipping away. As he opens his eyes to the dim lights of early morning, her last words resonate within him with the weight and power of omen:

"_Don't go to the Gathering."_


End file.
